after landing at JFK was sprint in

nst the tile wall while her stomach heaved. Nine hours of turbulence

sober grey suit as Dr. Marlowe's assistant-

ed her mouth, stepped out to the sink, an

o cool, narrow monolids over dark brown contact lenses. A silicone prosthetic sharpened her brow ridge and jawline, shaded with the faint blue-grey stipple

throat, cleared her vocal cords, and spoke from

f the internation

black Rolls-Royce wasn't a ch

r, though her pulse gave a

ailored black overcoat hung looser on his broad shoulders, an

face. His dark eyes locked onto hers for one second, two, thr

voice rougher than she remembe

her flat, gravelly baritone. "Do you alway

a cough, his shoulders twitching as he tried not

Rolls-Royce. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. My friend Dr.

om her in the cabin. "The hundred-million-dollar retainer has already been wire

ly filing the sum away as her b

Hudson Valley, two women were waiting on the front step

e dress like she already owned the house. Grandpa was barely ou

th of them without breaking st

n bed. His ground-floor bedroom smelled of antiseptic. Stella sent the nurses a

his fingernails ran distinct, milky-white transverse lines. She gently parted his lips to check the dark, bluish-grey stippling a

Down on the terrace directly beneath Grandpa's bedroom vent, a groundskeeper in cov

hree seconds, then pulled her gloves

d Celeste were wa

Lucian aske

ice, her gaze sweeping briefly over Diane's tense smile and

and turned to her. "Speak freely, Dr. Marlowe. The specialists

walking to the desk. "They were lookin

eyes under the desk lamp, his gaze flickered again wi

being poisoned. Slowly. Through compound dietary interactions a

the study t

from Lucian's face, replaced by the

esk and lowered his vo